This is not a travelogue, I live here, a small town, on a small island, in the middle of the Irish Sea. Welcome to The Isle of Man.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

ST MAUGHOLD ON ST PATRICK'S DAY - MY WORLD

The Irish Sea really is that green

My World

Click to enlarge.

As the Isle of Man is situated amid the the Irish Sea and has a strong Irish connections present and historical then A Happy St Patrick's Day post with a Manx twist it had to be. The image is kept plain and simple but it's the greenest one I had to hand. Nothing but the calm serenity of the Irish Sea lilting gently with hints of orange and white light light seemed somehow most appropriate. Who is St Maughold though and what's he got to do with St Patrick.

Saint Maughold ( 488 AD) is the Patron Saint of The Isle of Man Yes even we have our own Saint. Rumour has it he was an Irish Prince, captain of a band of robbers, drunk, wife beater and all round bad boy. Not very saintly you might say. Here is one version of the tale of the bad 'ole boy coming over all sinner to saint. There are many as always with myths and legends you take one and I write it my way.

Patrick punished Maughold after he tried to make a fool out of him, silly boy. Not a good idea. Maughold placed a living man, yes still alive, in a shroud and called for Patrick to revive the dead man. Patrick came, placed a hand on the shroud, and left thinking job done, miracle ensuing. No! When Maughold opened the shroud, they found the man had died in the shroud. Oops!

Patrick criticized Maughold, saying he should have been helping his band of merry men towards leading good and honest clean wholesome lives, and told him he must repent setting him adrift in a oar less coracle.

Maughold drifted to this isle, where two of Patrick's disciples, Romulus and Conindrus, were already settled welcomed him.

For a time he lived as a hermit to show remorse. Long before ipods remember. It worked! The Manx people really liked this new good guy Maughold and chose him as their next Bishop.

He is remembered on the Isle of Man for his kindness toward the Manx People. He now has his own Saint's day. Cool eh! Several places on the island have Maughold in the name and I have shown you those. Ok, not all of them as Maughold is another place, but you have seen it in the distance on those skywatch and other My world images. By the way Maughold is pronounced Makold just in case you decide to name you next offspring a really crazy way out there name. Can't say I have ever come across one before.

So a little Celt instead of the Vikings for St Patricks Day. Many a Guiness will be sunk tonight on the island and many will be feeling as green as this image the next day.

Klaus, Imac, Fishing Guy, Ivar, Tom, Louise, Wren, Sandy and others are to thank for the My World neme. Click here for more my world's just for fun again of course.

72 comments:

Well, Babooshka, I love this story about St. Maughold whom I've never heard of. I'm American of Irish descent and was brought up Catholic. I have cousins living in Limerick - and is the Irish Sea REALLY that GREEN? Amazing! Happy St. Patrick's Day! :)

I've never heard that story before! So St Patrick didn't have a sense of humour then? My favourite story with St Patrick in it is the tale of Oisin - it is so sad and beautiful. St Patrick's really only a footnote but you can read so much into it.

Is St Patrick's Day a recognised holiday on the Isle of Man? Or does St Maughold have his own day?

Amazing that water is that green that far north in what's got to be pretty cold currents. The green usually means a lot of algae, which normally only flourishes enough to affect water color in warm water. But I'll not question the truth of it, lassie. Ye've always been good to yer word as far as I'm knowin'

Beautiful photo, and perfectly placed for St. Maughold...er... Patrick's Day.

Mojo - The greenest water here is actually on the west coast Peel. We get a variety here but some days in the right light it could be the Med it's so Jade and we get such clear rockpools. I'll ask my other half Gary about the sea colours as he knows his stuff, coastal erosion, geology and whatnot as he studied them. An idea for a post forming.

Babooshka: Agree with Irish Bob! This is a favorite photo. LOVE the color. Love the story. Would appreciate people who have St. Patrick's Day posts sending a link for us to view. That should be a meme!

Happy St. Patty's Day! You should see all the wild celebrating going on HERE! NOT!!! I'll just have to settle for my many fine memories from St. Patty's Days past... Great story about Maughold. You're a wonderful story teller.